Iraq
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani (left) and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia’ al-Sudani (right) meeting in Baghdad on January 13, 2025. Photo: Kurdistan Region Presidency
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani’s latest visit to Baghdad was conducted at a perfect time and he is seen as a key actor in solving the disputes between Baghdad and Erbil and improving regional security in the Middle East, said an expert on Monday.
“There might be no better time than now for the Kurdistan Region president to visit Baghdad for two reasons; the first is that the Region has a major social crisis due to the treatment of Baghdad with the Kurds, which is the salaries of employees…The second is the deep structural and strategic changes that have taken place in the Middle East which Iraq still does not know how to interact with,” Adel Bakawan, director of the French Centre for Research on Iraq (CFRI), told Rudaw’s Hiwa Jamal.
He added that many “Iranian projects” in the Middle East have been destroyed, such as the weakening or ousting of its regional proxies in Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria.
“The remainder in this situation is Iraq, Iraq needs to decide where they stand,” he said, raising the question “Will Iraq stay as a link in the chain of the Islamic resistance?”
The Islamic Resistance is part of Iran’s Axis of Resistance which has targeted US and Israeli interests in the region but has been extremely weakened now.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Monday held a series of meetings with Iraq’s top leaders in Baghdad to discuss a range of issues, including unresolved issues between the federal and regional governments.
The visit takes place at a time when the ongoing disputes between Erbil and Baghdad over the Kurdish region's share in the federal budget remain unresolved.
Another important topic of discussion circulating Arab media in the past days, according to Bakhawan, is whether or not Nechirvan Barzani will go to Syria.
“One of the dossiers that needs to be consulted on is, who should go to Syria [to represent Iraq]. Should it be the Iraqi Prime Minister [Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani], the foreign minister Fuad Hussein, or the President of the Kurdistan Region? If he [President Barzani] goes to Syria, what should his project be? With only Kurdistan in mind or as a representative of Iraq as a whole?” Bakhawan wondered.
President Barzani has acted as a representative to Iraq with Western and regional countries recently, according to Bakhawan who also highlighted that the Kurdish leader has good relations with feuding sides such as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkey and that he could be a key figure in de-escalating tensions.
“Nechirvan Barzani's presence is very important, and as I said and repeat, he is a key member of the state administration coalition,” Ali al-Defai, the spokesperson of the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq told Rudaw on Sunday regarding his visit and the meetings.
He added that Barzani’s participation in the coalition’s discussions provides a valuable opportunity to resolve pending problems, particularly those affecting the Kurdistan Region, such as budget disputes and strengthening Baghdad-Erbil ties.
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